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Vice President Joe Biden (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Last week I scored the first presidential debate as a clear victory for Mitt Romney in terms of displaying presidential temperament. Tonight, I'd have to hand the win to Joe Biden, though not by such a starkly clear margin.

The vice president was tough and strong throughout, relaxed, sometimes humorous (even if he did laugh at his opponent a little much), at others withering in his criticisms, at still others, when addressing the most serious issues, quiet and grave. But Ryan was good, too. Nobody performed nearly as badly as President Obama did last week. Ryan never yielded, never appeared the least bit stung by Biden's attacks. However, he didn't quite show the vice president's flexibility and authority and feeling of command.

In my post last week I defined temperament as “the strength of character that allows a president to stay on top of all the events and complexities and life-and-death challenges of the world’s most difficult job, and to remain open-minded and flexible and yet determined.” Tonight we saw that kind of strength in Ryan's serving up crisp answers to every question and confident responses to every riposte, and refusing to be baited or stung.

But he didn't appear to me as relaxed and in command as Biden. And he seemed at times to get trapped in his arguments, even if he didn't show it in his words or body language. He couldn't say how he would cut income taxes across the board without slashing deductions that the middle class depends on, for instance, and it showed as he was repeatedly challenged on it. Biden, on the other hand, in the live-blogging words of Andrew Sullivan, "seems like the elder statesman but also a pitbull."

There was no clear knockout as in the first debate. Biden may have performed as well as Mitt Romney did before him, but Ryan did a great deal better than Obama. And, finally, there was Martha Raddatz. She was a terrific moderator, asking sharp questions with pointed follow-ups and keeping the debate moving and the subject matter changing. I doubt it will much change the course of the election, but I don't remember ever seeing a better presidential or vice-presidential debate.